MESHA Training Urges Media to Champion Just and Gender-Responsive Climate Action

Journalists and civil society actors have been urged to strengthen reporting on climate justice and gender equity to ensure that climate action in Malawi reflects the realities faced by vulnerable communities.

The call was made on Thursday during a MESHA media training, which brought together participants across the African continent to deepen their understanding of global climate negotiations and their local implications.

Presenting on the outcome of COP30, Teresa Anderson, Climate Justice Lead at ActionAid International, emphasized that a “just transition” must remain central to global and national climate policies.

She explained that as countries move away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy, the transition must protect jobs, livelihoods and vulnerable communities.

She stressed that journalists play a critical role in holding governments and global institutions accountable for commitments made at climate summits.

In a separate session titled Climate Change Isn’t Gender Neutral, Imali Ngusale, Strategic and Technical Lead at the African Centre for Health, Climate and Gender Justice Alliance, highlighted how climate impacts intersect with gender inequality.

Ngusale noted that countries across Africa, women are often responsible for food production, water collection and household energy — sectors heavily affected by droughts, floods and erratic rainfall.

“When climate disasters strike, women and girls are disproportionately affected,” she said. “If policies do not intentionally address inequality, they risk worsening it.”

She encouraged media practitioners to amplify women’s voices in climate stories and to report on the health, economic and social dimensions of climate change — not just environmental impacts.

Participants at the MESHA training said the sessions had broadened their understanding of how global climate negotiations connect to local realities, particularly in disaster-prone districts.

The training underscored the need for media to go beyond event-based reporting and instead provide sustained, people-centered coverage that highlights accountability, justice and community resilience in the face of climate change.

By Monica Chinyama Lipiya